37 | Fall 2017friend who rescued a dog had a bumpersticker that said, “Who rescued who?”For a moment, set aside the truth thata lot of love passes between pets andtheir people and focus on what pets dofor our physical wellbeing. Now there isevidence that dogs — because they need walking — improvetheir owners’ cardiovascular health. In fact, there is enoughresearch that the American Heart Association published ascientific statement on the subject. Here are a few findingsfrom some of the studies they reviewed:• Pet owners had lower systolic blood pressure, pulsepressure, and mean arterial pressure and a reducedrisk of high blood pressure. However, after adjustmentfor age and other factors, pet ownership was no longerassociated with a lower blood pressure or incidence ofhypertension.

• Ambulatory BP monitoring (blood pressure is measured
as a person is moving about, doing their typical
daily activities) two and five months after adoption
demonstrated significantly lower systolic blood pressure
in the dog-adoption group.

• Compared with nonowners and new cat owners,
new dog owners increased their recreational walking
significantly more over a 10-month period.

• After adjustment, dog owners were 57 percent more
likely than nonowners to achieve the recommended level
of physical activity.

• Pet ownership appeared to make little or no difference
in obesity, but there may be a difference for owners that
walk their dogs.

There are probably a variety of reasons owning petsis associated with reducing your risk of cardiovasculardisease. It may be that that people with dogs tend toexercise more. Pets may also play a role in providing socialsupport to their owners, which could be an important factorin helping you stick with a new habit or adopting a newhealthy behavior, such as walking. It’s unclear whether theresults are because dogs are the pets most commonlyowned and studied, if dogs are the pet most likely toincrease their owner’s physical activity or because ofadditional beneficial effects of dog ownership.

• Pet adoption, rescue or purchase should not be done
for the primary purpose of reducing cardiovascular
disease risk.

Whether or not you have a pet, regular aerobic physical
activity can help you lead a healthier life. Your physical activity
plan should include three to four sessions per week, lasting on
average 40 minutes per session, and involving moderate- to
vigorous-intensity physical activity. There are other important
actions you can take to improve your heart health, visit Heart
Insight’s Life’s Simple 7 department on the web.